Death Reborn
by SavageNymph
Summary: There is an exception the rule. Nothingness is not all what awaits you when you die. All of the Death Note characters killed are back. Some want revenge, some want to find love. All of them want to be alive again. Is there a way?
1. Preface

Preface

Once dead, they can never come back to life

This is the rule.

But rules are meant to be broken


	2. Chapter 1: Body

Chapter 1: Body

The first thing he is aware of is the cold.

_Impossible. _Light Yagami thinks from the dark void that holds his mind. _Death means nothingness. There shouldn't be cold. There shouldn't be thoughts. _

But then why is he thinking? Why can he feel his phantom arms and shadow legs, as if he still had a body.

_Ryuk told there is only nothingness. I should have simply stopped existing._

As soon as he thinks this, his eyes fly open. He has eyes. He is lying in blackness.

Slowly, he remembers how to sit up. He remembers the pull and release of his muscles and sinew. The way his skin stretches and eases as he moves. He remembers all of this and yet, as he moves, he experiences none of it.

But he has a body. There are his hands. There are he legs. He is wearing a white shirt and white pants, loose and soft. His touches his face. The familiar contours of his lips and eyes and nose meets his fingers. His hair feels the same, his skin feels the same.

He touches his chest. No heartbeat greets his searching. He tries to inhale, but finds that he cannot. It isn't uncomfortable, though.

Can he speak?

"I am Light Yagami." He says, and his voice his loud and clear.

As soon as the he speaks the words, his dark surroundings suddenly change again. He is zooming through time, through space.

Words and sounds spin together until he is a sound, a word, a breath poised on someone else's lips.

Then everything stops.

And he is sitting at a tea party.

A black-haired boy is sitting in the chair opposite him, holding a cup of tea in one hand and a slice of cake in the other. He smiles slightly, taking a bite of the cake.

"Light Yagami." He inclines his head. "I didn't expect you so soon."

***

L cocks his head as the boy in front of him stares blankly. What a shame. Apparently, death has made Light Yagami an idiot.

"Are you brain-dead, old friend?" L raises his eyebrows. "I was hoping for some intelligent conversation at last."

"Ryuzaki." Light says quietly, his eyes slightly unfocused.

"Light." L takes a sip of his tea. More sugar.

He drops the sugar cubes in one my one, enjoying the methodical _plip, plip, plip _sounds they make as they hit the hot liquid.

"Ryu…zaki?" Light says again, going pale.

"I believe we've all ready established that I am, in fact, Ryuzaki, and that you are Light Yagami." L sighs. All this wait, and Light Yagami can't even string two words together.

"But…we're both…dead…" Light sinks lower in his chair. "I died. Ryuk killed me. I didn't want to die. I didn't want the nothing. But this isn't nothing."

"Hmmm." L swirls his finger around in the tea and then licks it. "You are correct. I am dead—I believe I can thank you for that—and you are dead. Obviously, we are not nothing. I've actually been here for quite some time now. Apparently the cakes they serve in the after life are even better then the ones in life. Try some, would you?"

For the first time, Light focuses on him. L gets a small thrill from meeting the eyes of his arch enemy for the first time in six years.

"Why isn't it nothing? Ryuk told me it was going to be nothing."

"Ah, yes. The Shinigami. Do you honestly trust him?" L shakes his head, taking another bite of cake. Mmmm, delicious. The frosting in particular was sublime…

"Then is this heaven?" Light asks, still clearly disoriented.

"No." L sighs and puts down his coffee. He'd been so bored for the past six years, he thought having Light here would make death interesting, but now…instead he wants to talk about heaven…

"Besides." L continues, picking up a ruby-red strawberry and poking his finger into its skin absentmindedly. "Seeing as your Kira, I doubt you'd make it into heaven anyway. Even if it did exist."

The word "Kira" seems to finally shock Light back into coherence. He twitches, eyes roving madly.

"I lost." He cries, and his hands clench into his hair, face twisting into a mask of insanity. "I lost to that damn Near! I DIED AND NEAR WON!"

L watches calmly as Light begins to throw a fit. It was actually kind of amusing. He was used to Light being so calm and hard to read. This new Light was rather entertaining.

Soon, though, L grows bored with Light's insane ranting. Calmly, he flicked the strawberry he had been playing with at Light. It hit him squarely in the cheek, making a small red print.

Light freezes and looked over at L.

"Entertaining as this is." L picks up a sugar cube and pops it in his mouth. "I was actually hoping to introduce you to some people."

"Th-there are more…people here?" Light pales.

L smiles slightly. He's been waiting for this for a time.

"Just a few." He licks the small sugar grains of his lips and rests his thumb against his bottom lip.

"Light, I think you know Kiyomi Takada, Teru Mikami, Mihael Keehl, Soichiro Yagami, and the Shinigami, Rem."

***

_Kiyomi Takada must kill herself._

_ She knows this so strongly it eclipses everything else. She stands up, the blanket that she was wearing falls to the ground but she no longer cares. Death. Burning. Fire! That's all that matters. She must kill herself, and burn everything else she touches._

_ As if in a dream, she walks to the blond man resting dead against the steering wheel. She searches his body until she finds a box of matches. There is a label on the front that reads, _"THESE ARE MATT'S MATCHES. DO NOT TAKE THEM. THAT MEANS YOU, MELLO" _but she ignores it and opens the matchbox._

_ She lights every single one. She even holds one up to her own hair and felt the heat as it catches fire, and can smell the acrid smell of burning hair._

_ Burning flesh._

.

.

.

_I died._

That was the first thought that rang through the darkness of Kiyomi Takada's conscious.

_But if I died_ _then why am I thinking right now…?_

Her thoughts seems to bounce off one another. But she has a body. She feels her limbs and head, the air that brushes her cheek.

But she is not breathing. No heartbeat fills the silence.

_So I am dead. _

But she killed herself. Very clearly, she can remember setting fire to herself and the van.

_ I didn't want to die. I wanted to reign over the new world with Light…my Light…why did I kill myself…?_

The answer was so simple, so obvious, that Kiyomi ignored it completely. That couldn't be it. She was Kira. Mikami didn't have the real Death Note on him and Light…Light would never kill her…

As soon as she thinks this, her dark surroundings vanish. She is in a small, sweet-smelling room staring into the face of the man she loves.

The man who killed her.

***

"_You are not…_

_ ._

_ ._

_ ._

_ God…."_

Teru Mikami floats blissfully in the darkness.

He killed himself, back in prison. His life had lost all meaning. His God, his Lord, had turned out to be nothing but scum…scum who would use Teru…he did not deserve the power of God.

His life had lost all meaning. He had had no choice but to delete himself.

_Light Yagami…you are a worthless God…_

And then suddenly, he was staring at the very being who had once held all meaning in Teru's life.

His God.

***

_Matt…I never thought you'd be killed…_

_ ._

_ ._

_ ._

_ …forgive me…_

.

.

.

Mello isn't really sure about anything at this point, except how pissed off he his at Kiyomi Takada.

_That bitch killed me. _He thinks savagely from wherever his mind is in the dark abyss of death. _That whore…she must have had some pieces of the Death Note with her…I should have made her strip down in front of me completely. That's what you get for letting the hostages make requests…_

This isn't what Mello thought death would be like, either…he feels like he's in water, floating in nothingness but at the same time buoyed by some unseen force…

And he has his same body. His fingers trail through the void, and his hair brushes his face. He can feel the familiar tightness on the left side of his face…the scar…

_So I'm still me. _He thinks softly. _Still __Mihael Keehl. Still Mello. _

But is this all death is? Floating around and thinking…it would be better not to have a body…

_Where's Matt? And L? _He wants to see them. Matt was his only real friend. And L was his idol…they had both died. Where were they?

_Matt…_Mello thinks disjointedly. _Matt, I'm sorry you died…that was my fault…I kidnapped that bitch…for Near…and you got shot…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…_

_ …forgive me…_

_ And L…you owe this to me…find me…get me out of the nothingness…you bastard…it's because you exist that I did all that I did…I was so desperate to be you…to be better then you…_

Mello sighs and opens his eyes.

"L, you bastard, help me!" He shouts. His voice is immediately swallowed by the void. "L—I'm dead because of you! Matt died because of you! You stupid ass, help me!"

But of course, no one answers. As always, Mello is going to have to figure things out on his own. Matt was his conspirator…the only person Mello had ever trusted to work with as an equal, but still…when it came down to it, Mello had to rely on himself.

Mello tried to sit up, and found that he could do so. Whether he was sitting on a solid force, or simply floating in a different position, he could not tell.

The blackness all around him pisses him off. Really, really pisses him off. He's always hated nothingness, always filled up silence with his own thoughts or with the sound of Matt's video games. He despises silence. Despises boredom.

_This is Kira's fault. _

"Fuck you, Light Yagami." Mello hisses.

And then, before he can blink, he's standing in a room that smells like tea and sugar and chocolate, and next to him is Matt.

In front of him is L.

L, and Light Yagami.

_What the hell?!_

***

Soichiro Yagami died thinking his son was not Kira.

It has been some time since his death. He's spent the time in the office room of his home. This was the room that was created for him once he died, in the void of death.

He has all ready met L.

He has been watching the human world.

He now knows that his dying joy was a lie. His son had always been Kira.

.

.

.

_Yagami-san. _L's voice echoes through Soichiro's mind as he waits in a stupor. _Light has finally arrived. Please come to my room._

Soichiro stands, a sadness he didn't think possible sweeping through him. His son is his enemy, a murderer.

But he is still his son.

And how he is dead.

***

There is only one way to kill a Shinigami.

They must fall in love with a human.

But…if you die for someone you love…how can you be a God of Death anymore? Dying for love is a human thing…

…so Death Gods who die…are they even Shinigami anymore…?

Perhaps they are a little of both. Shinigami and human. Death and love. Powerful and weak.

Terrifying and horrifying.

Rem isn't really sure what she is anymore.

She does know that the next time she has a conscious, her body is that of a human girl.

Perhaps Shinigami don't really die at all.

Maybe they are simply reborn, into a form that fits their cause of death.

All Rem knows is that, after six human years of waiting, she is finally facing the human she hates most.

Light Yagami.


	3. Chapter 1 12: Angels of Death

Hello,

This fanfic is co-created by SonofHades and myself. The portion you are about to read was writing completely by SonofHades, while the fanfic's body chapters are written predominantly by me—with input from my co-writer.

Enjoy!

SavageNymph

Chapter 1 ½ : Angels of Death

Angels of Death…

A long ago in the Death Realm, when it was still chillingly beautiful, Angels of Death reigned beside Death Gods, keeping them in line.

See, while death gods represented the fear loss and pain of dying, Angels of Death represented relief, completion, and reunion. The positive and negative.

As it is against nature of Gods of Death to love, Angels of Death cannot hate. But with time and pollution of good in the world, a handful of Angels defied this rule, and their king, and began despising humans. They took their part out of death. This betrayal resulted in their banishment.

They were forgotten. Banished to the realm of nothingness. Without the positive ruling half of death the death realm began to fade into rubble and hate. But in the realm of nothingness some Angels with strong wills gained consciousness. They were all blackness but they had thoughts, emotion. Power. All of this was still beating deep within them, like a piece of ember of a once strong burning fire. But it is there, nonetheless.

Now they try to redeem their sins. When humans die and become nothingness, Angels of Death give them life and send them to a new realm hoping Death Gods will remember their other halves, these Angels, and forgive them for hating humans and defying the King of Death.


	4. Chapter 2: Enemies

Chapter 2: Enemies

Light Yagami's reaction is even better then L imagined.

He falls of his chair, making choking noises, as if he can still breathe. L grins and takes a sip of his tea. He doesn't usually go for revenge…but Light Yagami, Kira, is a special case.

Light staggers to his feet, his once composed face wild. "This is impossible."

"Actually." L picks up a truffle. "It's about fifty point five percent possible. This is the realm of death, after all. And, as you know, we're all dead."

Light's breathing is shallow. His eyes sweep over everyone converged there.

"Dad." He says quietly. "Dad, I—"

"Save it, Light." The aged detective replies stiffly.

L is surprised to be something that might be anguish flash across Light's face.

_Interesting. _He raises an eyebrow. _I didn't think Light had any humanity left in him at all. This is going to be interesting. _

"Yes, I decided that—when you turned up here—I would bring as many people back here for you to meet. Of course, your father was an obvious choice. Takada and Mikami both suffered and were manipulated by your hand. You gave Takada the tools to kill Mello, and when she did you disposed of her…not that I'm surprised, I knew you would…and let's see…you don't know Matt, do you?"

L turns around in his chair slightly to stare at Mello. "Why did you bring him? You ruined my dramatic introduction."

***

"Why did you bring him? You ruined my dramatic introduction."

Mello, who had been in a state of shock for the last few minutes, snaps out of it and curls his hands into fists. Right. Oh, yes. He's forgotten this. How he reveres L, wants to be like him and better than him, but at the same time…

God, he hates him sometimes.

"Where the hell are we?!" Mello shouts, taking a step forward. How he would love to knock over L's stupid tea table, and then put a bullet through Light Yagami's head and kill him all over again.

L holds up one pale finger. "One moment, please. I'm trying to torment Kira right now."

Mello's fingers twitch as he imagines wrapping them around L's neck.

He feels a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he meets Matt's dark brown eyes. His best friend looks just as confused as he is, but he's used to calming Mello down.

Mello jerks his shoulder away from Matt, but grits his teeth together. Fine, he can wait. But he wants revenge. Better revenge then just flaunting a few spirits in front of Light's face. He wants to see Light screaming in pain, begging for mercy. Kira. The most hated being ever.

_You took everything away from me, you bastard. _Mello glares at the young man who is staring wide-eyed at the dead. _Everything that mattered. I'll make you pay. I'll make you _wish _death was nothingness. _

"As I was saying." L turns back to Light and sticks his tongue into the truffle's gooey center. Mello feels a slight pang. He misses chocolate. "I also wanted you to meet Rem in her new form. Rem, if you would step forward."

Mello shudders involuntarily when the person L is calling Rem does step to L's side. He hears Matt mutter a swear-word behind him.

_What the hell is that?_

It has the body and face of a regular girl. Thinner and taller then the girls Mello's used to, but still definitely human.

But that's where the similarities stop.

The…thing's…skin was chalk white, and it's lips were a dark purple, the color lips get when your body doesn't have any oxygen left. She was wearing a tattered white dress, almost the exact same color as the thing's skin, which fell to it's knees. It had powder-white dreadlocks that were a light blue at the ends. It's eyes were golden and the pupils slits, like a cat's.

"What the fuck is _that_?" Mello mutters.

"Hell if I know." Matt replies in a whisper.

"That…that's not Rem." Light whispers. Mello is glad to see that his skin is almost as white as the monster-girl in front of him.

"No, it is. Apparently when Shinigami die for a human they love, they take on the appearance of a human. Rem also no longer has a Death Note, nor does she possess the ability to see a person's name and life span by looking at them. Interesting, isn't it?" L puts down his food and clasps the tops of his knees.

Light stands up calmly and Mello tenses involuntary. He's wearing stupid white pajamas that remind him of the clothes Near always wore…and there wasn't a gun anywhere in them. Even if they all are all ready dead, Mello doesn't like being so close to Kira and not having something to defend himself with.

"L." Light says quietly.

"Yes, Kira-kun?" L blinks innocently. Mello snorts at L's use of Japanese honorifics.

"WHY THE HELL ARE DOING THIS?!" Light explodes, kicking over his chair and slamming his hands down on the table, leaning over until his face his right up against L's. "I FUCKING LOST, ALL RIGHT? I'M KIRA, I AM GOD, BUT I STILL LOST. I'M DEAD, YOU BASTARD! ISN'T THAT ENOUGH FOR YOU?!"

L gazes back into Light's screaming face serenely. Mello is once again eerily reminded how Near can look just like that sometimes…

"No, actually, it's not." L replies. "You see, Light-kun, I don't like losing. Neither do you, and I know that, but I'm not used to being bested. The Kira case was the one I wasn't able to solve, and it cost me my life. This is your fault. So, I'm going to take as much revenge as possible. But if you think these people here are only here because I know they'll make you suffer, you're wrong. You see, Kira-kun, you can see the human world from here."

L picks up his tea cup and dips his finger into the amber liquid.

"The past." The tea swirls and becomes an image of Light picking up a Death Note, his expression quizzical.

"The present." L taps the tea again. The picture changes to one of Near setting fire to two Death Notes.

"And, the future." He touches the tea for the last time and licks his finger as the image morphs into a familiar-looking blond girl jumping off the top of a tall building.

"Hey, it's that cute girl we were watching." Matt whispered.

Right. The second Kira. The shallow, annoying blond girl Mogi was watching over…what was her name…?

"Misa?" Light says quietly, staring down at the cup of tea, which has now become simply a cup of tea again.

"Yes. You just watched Misa Amane, a year from now, kill herself. Can you guess why?" L focuses intently on Light.

A small smirks plays across Light's lips. "Because I died."

"Correct." L rests his thumb in his parted lips, just against his teeth. Mello is slightly comforted by the gesture. It reminds him of his days at Wammy's House, back when he didn't have a scar, wasn't dead, and spent the days with Matt, practicing for the day he'd become L.

Because that worked out so well…

"Hmph." Light crosses his arms. "I was going to kill her anyway."

Without warning, the Shinigami-girl, Rem, is at Light's side. She is taller than him, and Mello is gratified to see that he shrinks slightly under her gaze.

"Misa will not die because of you, Light Yagami." The girl says slowly. Her voice sends shivers down Mello's spine. It's low and husky, as hallow and cold as a tomb. It's a surprise, unnatural, even coming out of that bizarre body.

"You can't threaten me anymore." Light says through his teeth. "I'm all ready dead."

"That is true." Rem intoned. "I cannot kill you. But I can send you into the nothingness you so fear."

Light's eyes widen, and Mello grins. This Rem-thing is a freak, but Mello can also see how Yagami is actually afraid of it.

"Impossible." Light spits.

"This form you find yourself in was given to you by the Shinigami's other half, the Angels of Death, or the Sairai. They give form to humans who die and pass into the void. Most Shinigami have forgotten about the existence of our other halves, and none of them know that the Sairai are giving a form of life back to humans—so when Ryuk told you that death was equal to nothingness, he believed that to be true.

"I have been contact with some of the Sairai, and I could ask them to take away the body you inhabit right now. Then, you would truly pass into nothingness. Do you want that, Light Yagami?"

Silence has fallen over the small room. Mello glances at the other people converged behind L. His mouth pulls down into a scowl when he sees that _bitch _Takada. She'll pay as well…her face is blank with either shock or idiocy. Mello doesn't give a damn either way...

A black haired man is staring numbly down at the floor. Okay.

And then the man Light Yagami called "Dad"…the man was looking somberly at his son. Mello turns away, disgusted.

"And so I take it," Light hisses through his teeth, "that I have to try and save Misa, or else you'll have me erased?"

"No. You will save Misa. There is no 'try'. You have ruined her life, Light Yagami, and I will not rest until you have righted your wrongs against her."

Light smirks. "I ruined her life? You gave her the Death Note."

"That is not the point. You will save her. L has all ready agreed to try and help as well."

This surprises Mello. He glances at his dark-haired idol and then away. Why would L try to save that blond bimbo?

Light seems surprised to. "You want to save her, Ryuzaki? She had a hand in your death as well, you know."

"True." L nods. "But, you see, the Kira case it actually what killed me. I was planning to die anyway, Light-kun. I had my name written in the Death Note you know. You just had me killed twenty days early. Anyway, I grew to like Misa Amane. We were all friends, remember?"

Mello can't stop the gasp that leaves his lips. L was…planning to die? He wrote…he wrote his own name in the Death Note?  
"Are you serious?" Mello breathes.

"Quite." L replies, not looking at him.

This infuriates Mello. He reaches out and turns L's chair with a jerk of his wrist. L gazes at him calmly.

"You planned to die? Why didn't you tell me or Near, or even Matt?" Mello shouts.

"It was unnecessary information." L shrugs.

Mello grits his teeth. Of course it was "unnecessary". Unnecessary, because L had never cared about his three successors. They were just things to be trained, backup. Not the real thing, not as good as L, but close enough. L wouldn't have ever considered the possibility that Near or Mello or Matt would have been upset because he had died.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell Near." Mello spits bitterly. "He was always your favorite."

"Mello…" Matt says warningly from behind him.

"Actually." L pulls his chair back the right way. "My favorite was Light-kun."

A stunned kind of silence follows this declaration. For Mello, it's the verbal equivalent of being kicked in the crotch. So. L's favorite had been the man who murdered him. Mello was below Kira, for God's-fucking-sake.

"Anyway, where were we?" L taps his chin. "Ah, yes. Misa. Rem has informed me that we can travel to the human world…our forms will become incorporeal, but nothing we can do about that…was that all…? Ah, yes. I plan to find a way to make sure no Death Note ever falls into the human world again."

Light blinks. "You can't do that."

"Well, I'm going to try." L picks up a small cake and takes a large bite. While chewing, he says: "You see, Light-kun, I never want something like the Kira fiasco to happen again. And with all those Kira worshippers out there, it's very possible that it will. Rem has agreed that if we help her save Misa, she will help us seal the connection between the Shinigami realm, and the human world."

Light's knuckles are white against the table. "And what makes you think I'm going to help at all, Ryuzaki?"

L snaps his fingers. Handcuffs appear, linking L and Light's wrists. "Because you don't have a choice, Kira-kun."

***

"That bastard."

Mello is surveying the small room that Watari (still dead, still acting as L's butler) had given him and Matt. Apparently, you could create places to live out the void with your mind. Or at least, L could.

L had also apparently though it was funny to give Mello and Matt bunkbeds.

"That fucking _asshole._" Mello seethes, turning to open the door they came through. It opens to reveal a black abyss that seems to stretch on forever. Floating in front of Mello's eyes is a chocolate bar, with a note attached.

_You'll find my room again when I need to talk to you and Matt tomorrow—L _the note reads.

"Fucker." Mello snaps, reaching out and grabbing the chocolate before slamming the door.

"Whatever, I get top bunk!" Matt calls, all ready climbing the ladder.

Mello blinks and then walks over and shoves Matt onto the bottom bunk. "Like hell you are, Matt." He starts climbing the ladder himself.

"Hey, that's not fair." Matt snaps.

"Life isn't fair." Mello mutters, flopping down onto the bed.

Matt's quiet, and Mello can hear him sitting down on the bottom bunk.

"But we're not alive anymore, are we, Mel?"

Mello swallows. "No."

"I was shot. By Takada's body guards." Matt says quietly.

"Yeah. Takada killed me. She must have had some of the Death Note with her." Mello scowls.

"I'm…I'm kind of…I don't know, disappointed. I thought dying would be a bit cooler, you know? I always hoped it would be something really fantasy-ish. But…I'm still me…and I'm sleeping in bunk beds. In the bottom bunk." Matt says quietly.

"You play too many video games." Mello replies, his voice slightly softer. Then: "And I'm kind of glad this happened."

"Why's that?"

"I…I wanted to see you again. You and L. I felt…so guilty that you got killed, Matt. It was my fault. I—" Mello stopped. It would sound corny to say 'I didn't want to imagine what my life would be like alone, without you' so he just stopped talking.

Matt chuckles. "You know, I wouldn't have guessed you wanted to see L, seeing as how you keep yelling at him."

Mello grunts. "Yeah, I've forgotten how much he pisses me off."

"And it wasn't your fault, that I was shot." Matt adds quietly. "I don't blame you."

Mello feels a small jerk in his stomach. Something between guilt, sadness, and relief. Mostly guilt though. A sick kind of guilt.

"Yeah, well…doesn't mean it wasn't my fault." Mello mutters. "Let's go to sleep."

"Hmph. This is weird. It's pretty much like we're alive." Matt yawns.

Mello closes his eyes and rolls over, letting his hair cover his face. "Yeah."

"'Night, Mel."

Mello swallows. "'Night."

They both are silent, and soon they both are asleep.


End file.
